Deathstroke Returns in Arrow Season 5 Finale Sneak Peek

Last week, production began on the Arrow Season 5 finale, with star Stephen Amell sending out a few photos from the set, with one taking fans by surprising. The actor posted a photo of the iconic Deathstroke helmet, while welcoming back Manu Bennett to the show. However, this seemed to take Manu Bennett by surprise, especially since he's currently on the other side of the world in New Zealand, filming MTV's The Shannara Chronicles. Today The CW has released a new trailer teasing the final five episodes of this season, which kick off Wednesday, April 26 at 8 PM ET, and features another Deathstroke tease. At the same time, Manu Bennett keeps denying his involvement in the season finale.

The CW Network debuted this video today, which includes one brief shot of Deathstroke's mask hanging on a stick on the island of Lian Yiu, and the final shot of the trailer shows Oliver Queen entering a dark room, holding the Deathstroke mask and slowly approaching someone in a prison cell. While we don't see if it is in fact Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson or not, we can hear a voice, which does sound a lot like Manu Bennett, saying, "Hey kid. I'm glad you came back." It's possible that Manu Bennett only recorded his voice for this scene, and he that he won't actually be on camera, which could make sense since Manu Bennett has continued to deny that he is filming Arrow. Marc Guggenheim even took to Twitter last week to confirm that fans will "definitely hear the voice of Manu Bennett in Arrow's season finale," although the actor responded with a photo of the lip-syncing group Milli Vanilli, asking the executive producer if, using "old pre-recorded ADR for d.s. is kosher."

Our report from earlier this month revealed that production on the Season 5 finale would go from April 7 through April 19, with production wrapping yesterday. Over the past few weeks, Manu Bennett tweeted a few photos from the Arrow set, although it isn't known how he obtained said photos, revealing that it is someone else in the Deathstroke costume, since he is in Auckland, New Zealand shooting The Shanarra Chronicles. The actor even sent out a video from the set, where he's seen turning around, snapping an actual arrow in half, as a "message" to the show. The actor also retweeted a number of fans on Twitter who were posting photos of a person they claim to be Manu Bennett in Vancouver, where Arrow is filmed.

Whether we see Deathstroke or just hear his voice in the finale, this new development seems to represent a change in plans for the show. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim teased in February 2016 that Deathstroke won't return on Arrow, because the character was "tied up" in another DC project, which many fans assumed would be a new movie. Sure enough, just a few months later, Joe Manganiello was announced as Deathstroke in Ben Affleck's The Batman reboot. It's possible that, since production hasn't even started on that movie yet, that The CW decided they still have some time to use Deathstroke in their universe. It remains unclear if Deathstroke will have a larger role in Arrow Season 6, but it's certainly possible.

This trailer also gives fans a new look at the returning Katie Cassidy, who will be back as Black Siren in the final two episodes of Season 5, before returning as a series regular in Season 6. Arrow returns from a month-long hiatus with Dangerous Liaisons on Wednesday, April 26, followed by Underneath on May 3, Honor Thy Fathers on May 10, Missing on May 17 and the Season 5 finale, Lian Yu on May 24. Take a look at the trailer for the last few episodes of Arrow, along with Manu Bennett's latest Instagram and Twitter posts regarding Arrow.